Hoya Staff Writer Friday, September 8, 2006 Lindsay Anderson/The Hoya

It was fitting that the Georgetown men’s soccer team played a night game and a day game last weekend: The two contests were like night and day. Although the Hoyas (1-3-0) ended up losing both matches at the Ameritas Classic in Omaha, Neb., one was an overtime thriller in front of a huge crowd, while the other was an uninspired defeat in a nearly empty stadium. Friday night’s 3-2 loss to No. 8 Creighton (1-2-1) drew 3,746 fans, the sixth largest home attendance in Creighton’s history. The turnout for Sunday’s 2-0 defeat by Missouri State: 171. “It was just an absolutely opposite atmosphere,” senior forward and co-captain Ricky Schramm said. After opening the season with a 5-2 win against George Washington, the Hoyas have now lost three games in a row heading into Friday’s home opener against Big East foe Syracuse. In Georgetown’s practices leading up to the Creighton game, Head Coach Brian Wiese tried to prepare his players for what he knew would be a raucous environment. As expected, the Bluejays quickly capitalized on their home field advantage with a goal in the fifth minute. “We lost the early goal,” Wiese said. “It was loud and hard to hear and a miscommunication issue.” The Hoyas responded with consecutive goals to take a 2-1 lead. Junior forward Mike Glaccum fired the ball past the Bluejay goalie from seven yards out in the 20th minute to put Georgetown on the scoreboard, his second goal of the season. Three minutes later, a quick turnaround shot by Schramm deflected off of a Creighton defender towards senior midfielder Daniel Grasso, who found the corner of the net for his third goal of the season. The Hoyas’ lead did not last long, though, as Creighton tied the game at 2-2 in the 28th minute. “Once you get that lead you have to do a better job of locking that door and not relinquishing it,” Wiese said. “We let up that second goal a little too easily.” Despite the mishap, the Georgetown defense did not break down again for over 70 minutes. “As the game went on I really felt comfortable,” Wiese said. “I felt like we would end up winning. We were creating good chances, getting things forward.” After the Hoyas were unable to capitalize on their opportunities during regulation play, Creighton’s Chris Shuler won the game for the Bluejays with a header off of a corner kick 8:24 into the first overtime. “It was probably one of the better games we have played so far,” Schramm said. “It’s positive reinforcement but it’s not something we’re going to look back on and be 100 percent satisfied with. We’re proud of it, but we’re not satisfied with it.”At the end of the day I felt pretty good about the team,” Wiese said. “I’m a very process-orientated coach. I think the results will eventually take care of themselves.” While Georgetown was a lucky break away from beating Creighton, the Hoyas fell flat against Missouri State (2-1-1), managing only one shot on goal in the 2-0 shutout. “I felt Missouri State came out more prepared to play the game,” Wiese said. “They came out like it was the national championship and we came out like it was a scrimmage. When we started playing well in the second half, it was too late.” The Bears did indeed come out strong, with Justin Douglass scoring the game’s first goal 11 minutes into the first half. Ryan Anderson continued the onslaught shortly thereafter with a short cross-kick to make it 2-0. Missouri State kept Hoya goalie Joe Devine busy, attempting 18 shots on goal. “It was the one poor performance we’ve had this whole year,” Schramm said. The Hoyas hope to turn things around when they face off against Syracuse Friday in the Big East opener for both schools. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m. at North Kehoe Field. On Sunday, Georgetown takes on St. John’s at 1 p.m. on North Kehoe Field in another Big East contest.